Michael
Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman, CBE (born 17 December 1950) is a British
Labour politician and former actor. He was a Member of the European
Parliament for the West Midlands constituency from 1999 until he stood down
in 2014.[1]
He has since then been appointed to the House of Lords.[2]
On 23 September 2014, Cashman was appointed the Labour Party's special envoy
on LGBT issues worldwide.

A former child actor, Cashman had a long career principally on television
in supporting roles. His first television appearance was in the 14th episode
"The Tin God" of the ITC series Gideon's Way filmed in 1964 and aired
in 1965. He had been in the business for more than 20 years when he landed
the role of Colin Russell in BBC TV's EastEnders – a character who
was a participant in the first gay kiss in a British soap opera. In 1980,
Cashman was a series regular in series 2 and 3 of ITV's The Sandbaggers
as Sandbagger 2 (initially Sandbagger 3). Cashman also appeared in the
Doctor Who serial Time-Flight in March 1982. It was announced on
25 August 2016 that Cashman would reprise his role as Colin Russell in
EastEnders for two episodes in September.[3]

He is the treasurer of Equity and led the campaign to obtain pension
rights for members.

Cashman is a founder of Stonewall,[4]
an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, a Patron of The Food
Chain, a London-based HIV charity and a patron of LGBT Labour.

In the European Parliament he was Labour spokesman on human rights.

A member of the Civil Liberties Committee, Cashman has been a rapporteur
on several key initiatives including an initiative on funerals of those who
die in third countries – an issue he was motivated to act on after the death
of his own father.

In the Petitions Committee, where he is first vice-chair, he has been
working on the so-called Spanish Land Grab crisis.[5]

He is a trenchant critic of discrimination against minorities within the
European Union. He has been leading a cross-party coalition to tackle the
rise in homophobia throughout Europe. He has in the past supported the gay
pride march in Warsaw, which he attended.[6]
He is also the President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on gay and
lesbian issues. Cashman is a member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly. In 2014, he criticised McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Visa Inc. during
a session of parliament in protest at their sponsorship of the 2014 Winter
Olympics taking place in Sochi, Russia, despite Vladimir Putin having
recently introduced legislation against the LGBT community. Cashman cut up
his Visa card during the session.[7]

In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of
Staffordshire for his human rights work.[8]
That same year he was elected MEP of the Year for Justice and Fundamental
Rights by his peers.[9]

Cashman was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
in the 2013 New Year Honours for public and political service.[10]

It was reported on 8 August 2014 Cashman was to be among 22 new life
peers announced by the government.[11]
On 23 September 2014 he was created a Life Peer taking the title Baron
Cashman, of Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets,[12]
which is also his birthplace.

In June 2015, Cashman announced his involvement and investment in
SuitLink Ltd., a global LGBT and ally professional social network.[13][14]

In 2007, Cashman supported Alan Johnson for the deputy leadership of the
Labour Party. In 2010, he supported David Miliband for the leadership of the
party. In 2015, Cashman supported Yvette Cooper for the leadership and gave
his second preference to Liz Kendall.

Cashman registered a civil partnership with Paul Cottingham, his partner
of over twenty years, on 11 March 2006. They met in 1983 and were together
for 31 years until Cottingham died. A fellow actor and humanitarian
activist, Cottingham who also worked for the Labour Party as High Value
fundraiser and for Britain in Europe, became Cashman's researcher during
Cashman's time in the European Parliament. In March 2011 he was diagnosed
with a very rare cancer, angiosarcoma, and died on 23 October 2014 at the
Royal Marsden Hospital, London. He was cremated in a humanist service at the
City of London Cemetery on 7 November 2014.[15][16]